Today, I got a peak of Research in Motion Ltd.’s soon-to-be-launched latest version of its BlackBerry smartphone.

Meeting with some RIM folks for a story, spokesman Nick Manning whipped out a slim gadget he said was the new BlackBerry 10, which the company plans to launch on Jan. 30 and release to the market soon afterward. An exact date of the release wasn’t available.

The new phone is less than a quarter of an inch thick and about the length of an iPhone 5.

As with other smartphones, its home screen shows rows of icons for apps and functions, which are navigated by swiping the screen.

The display and function options are cool: You can have multiple apps open on one screen (see photo at right above) and you can access apps while another app is running in a split-screen mode (see photo at left below).

Sheryl Jean, The Dallas Morning News

Canada-based RIM plans hopes the long-delayed BlackBerry 10 will revive demand — and sales and profits. Its U.S. headquarters is in Irving.

Once a mobile pioneer, RIM has struggled to regain market share lost to Apple’s iPhones and other smartphones that use Google’s Android software. RIM reported a net loss of $235 million on revenue of $2.9 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 1.

In May, RIM hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. and RBC Capital Markets to help explore its strategic options. Last summer, it said it would cut about 5,000 jobs worldwide by March to offset mounting losses and slower phone sales.

Last month, RIM laid off 238 people — mostly customers service employees — at its then 700-strong Irving office. Now, it’s hiring wireless engineers and developers.